New garage geared up for grand opening

A leading independent garage group is to open a new £150,000 facility in Rutherglen.

D&G Autocare has announced the launch of its new garage opposite Shawfield Stadium – the 17th facility to be opened by the Fife-based company in its 17 years.

Set up at a cost of £150,000, the new facility will employ five staff and provide a full servicing provision, including MOTs for Classes 4 and 7.

Autocare professional, Shaun Clelland, previously the manager at D&G Autocare in East Kilbride, will head up the new garage and hopes to employ apprentices in the near future.

Notable for claiming an industry first a few years ago, when it launched an innovative vehicle management app to market, D&G, employs a total of 150 people, with a £10 million turnover.

Commenting on the launch of the new Rutherglen garage, director of operations, Peter Wood said:“We are delighted to offer both domestic and business customers in the Rutherglen area a modern and accessible new garage carrying the trusted D&G name.

“It’s good news for the local economy at what has been an extremely difficult time for everyone. We look forward to building a strong clientele here in the coming months.

“This is a fantastic new location, just five minutes from Glasgow city centre. It’s also an extremely happy coincidence that this opening of garage number 17 is coinciding with our 17th anniversary. It looks like it’s a lucky number for us.

“It was always our intention at launch to try to open a new garage every year, if we saw the correct opportunities in the right locations.

“It hasn’t worked out exactly like that, but we’re really pleased to have got to this total, especially given the pandemic, which is affecting every part of the economy.

“Each garage we open represents an overall investment in equipment and staff of over £150,000, which is a considerable amount.”

Mr Wood also spoke about the firm’s successful apprenticeship scheme for both mechanics and administration staff.

He said:“Three young people will be qualifying later this year across our group as a result of our apprentice scheme,.

“It’s really important to us to keep this going, and even before the pandemic came along, we saw real value in this approach, providing us with young mechanics trained to our own standards, and administration staff that understand the business inside out.

“We would hope to take on an apprentice in the future at the Rutherglen garage.”